NBC Universal's 1st-Q Profit Plunges 45%

That’s according to parent company General Electric which just reported that overall revenues dropped 9% and its profit spiraled down 35% in the 1st Quarter of this year. But among segment profit, NBC Universal was a major -45% bummer because of recessionary, advertising, programming and product woes. According to CNBC, broadcasting, O&Os and DVD sales really suffered, though cable not so much. So much for GE being “happy” it’s got other diversified companies like NBC Uni under its big tent to take the pressure off its GE Finance. “While Cable continued to deliver double-digit growth, NBC Universal had a tougher performance overall due to a soft advertising market and fewer major DVD releases compared to a year ago,” GE Chairman/CEO Jeff Immelt said. I don’t for the life of me see how GE chairman/CEO Jeff Immelt can continue to sound so upbeat as he did again today when his company has lost 67% of its market capitalization in the past year. On the other hand, the way I hear it, he’s surrounded himself with “Yes” men like Jeff Zucker, Mr. Manager For Margins (Not Ratings). But he also said estimated stress test results show the conglomerate won’t need to raise additional capital “even in the Fed’s adverse-case scenario”. There’ll be a conference call later this AM.